A policewoman was shot dead as she investigated a burglary by a man who thought she was a burglar.
Mum-of-one Milene Bagalho Estevam was one of three who died in the shooting.
Milene, 39, and her colleague Felipe Wilson da Costa had gone to a man’s mansion to ask for his security camera footage on Saturday (16 Dec).
Burglars had robbed a neighbour’s house the day before and the officers were hoping the man’s footage would help them catch the crooks.
As they approached Rogério Saladino at his mansion, the pair identified themselves as police officers and showed him their badges.
But Saladino, 56, apparently didn’t believe them and, thinking they were burglars, shot Estevam in São Paulo, Brazil.
Da Costa shot Saladino in return.
Saladino’s private security guard, Alex James Gomes Mury, then tried to grab his boss’s gun, only for da Costa to shoot him, too.
All three shooting victims died at the scene, while da Costa was unharmed.
Estevam was laid to rest in São Paulo on Sunday (17 Dec).
She leaves behind a five-year-old daughter.
Her colleague Thiago Delgado told local media: “We are all devastated.
“She was brilliant as a police officer, as a friend, and as a mother.”
The police reported finding cannabis and other drugs in Saladino’s house.
Pathologists will perform tests to find out if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he opened fire.
The police say he owned two pistols but only one of them legally.
Saladino was partner and president of a firm in the diagnostics market.
He leaves behind his partner, 37-year-old model Bianca Klamt, as well as a 15-year-old son from a previous relationship.
The authorities say he has previous bookings for homicide, bodily injury, and environmental crime.
He was laid to rest in São Paulo yesterday (18 Dec).
His family’s lawyer, Marcelo Martins Oliveira, told local media: “We have no idea what information he received that would explain the reaction he had.”
The police are investigating the case as suspected homicide and death resulting from police intervention.
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